Lincoln man arraigned for alleged Lexington hate crime

Monday

Nov 12, 2018 at 11:24 AMNov 12, 2018 at 11:24 AM

A Lincoln man has been arraigned in an Oct. 26 incident on Saddle Club Road where a Star of David and a swastika were carved into a resident's car.

According to the criminal complaint, Ephraim Lessell has been charged with one count each of larceny under $1,200, destruction of property over $1,200, trespassing and property damage to intimidate based on a person's race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability.

On the night of Oct. 25, Saddle Club Road resident Brent Passer observed a strange car parked on the road near his home. The next morning, according to the police report of the incident, Passer found his home had been extensively vandalized.

Three chrysanthemums had been torn out of the ground. Two "good-sized" rocks were taken from the backyard and placed in a grassy area across the street, in between the road and the sidewalk, and pieces of bluestone were broken. A tree branch was moved from a brush pile to the middle of the backyard. An alarm panel was torn from the garage wall and lawn chair was thrown into the front yard. Also, over the three days prior to the Oct. 26 incident, Passer told police three large brown spots had appeared in the grass, which the report noted had "a strong and distinct odor resembling paint thinner, turpentine or linseed oil." Lastly, Passer's Jeep had a Star of David--a Jewish symbol--and "the Nazi symbol" carved into the hood. Both side mirrors had been removed, and things had been carved into the doors, as well.

Long-running conflict

Passer told police that he and his family had an ongoing conflict with Lessell. Passer had bought his house--Lessell's childhood home--from Lessell's parents in 2014. Since then, Passer has found Lessell on his property several times and had sought a "no trespass" order against him in July.

"Mr. Passer told us that Lessell has commented to them that he feels Passer took advantage of his parents with the purchase price of the home," the report stated.

Police interviewed Passer's neighbors, who said they had known Lessell since he was a child and had heard similar statements from Lessell several times over the years, including on one of his most recent visits with them earlier this year.

A key fob proves key

Passer's home, according to the report, had no security cameras. However, police found a BMW key fob in the driveway next to his Jeep. No one in the Passer family owns a BMW, the report stated.

When Lexington and Lincoln police visited Lessell's home in Lincoln the night of Oct. 26, they tested the key fob in one of two BMWs parked at the house, according to the report, and were able to unlock the car remotely and with the fob's key. The report states police did not open the door or enter the car, but through the windows were able to see pieces of chrysanthemum stems and loose soil in the car's back seat, an "unusual solvent odor" coming from the car, and pieces of bluestone and other rocks in the front seat, which appeared to match the stones disturbed at Passer's house.

When police interviewed Lessell after inspecting his car, he stated that "no one else uses [the car] except one time last week a friend used it." When police asked if anyone else used it on Oct. 25, "Lessell's demeanor immediately changed" and he said no one else had used it that day, besides himself. After being read his Miranda rights, Lessell declined to speak further with police and was arrested. According to the criminal complaint, he was arraigned on Oct. 29 in Concord District Court. A pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for Dec. 3.

No 'larger threat'

In an interview with the Lexington Minuteman, Lexington Police Capt. Michael McLean said officers found no other similar instances in the neighborhood or around town.

“We don’t think it’s indicative of a larger threat to anyone else the community,” he said.

“We don’t want the community to be worried about random events happening to them in town," given the recent murder of 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue and a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes nationally, he added. “We appreciate the fact that Lexington is a very well-educated community that stands together and stands up when events of this nature happen in town."